Shades of Gray
by KeepMovingForward
Summary: The in-between is a spiritual place that is between heaven and hell. It is neither light nor dark, but instead all of the spectrum that lies between. What emerges from it is neither god nor human, light nor dark, evil nor good but a mixture of all things. Behind the walls of the stronghold lies the most complex society and only heroes can survive. For it is truly a hero's journey.
1. Where the Journey Begins

**Author's Note: So this is an idea I've been playing with for a while and I hope you all like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson.**

Selena walked around the room slowly, letting her hand glide lightly along the table as she thought. The old man in the chair observed her carefully as she did this. She turned on her heel as if to speak, then closed her mouth and continued on her way. The room was silent for a long while, both of them deep in thought.

"You believe this is the answer then?" Selena finally asked, looking out the large window to the blue heavens as if they held the answer.

"What I believe doesn't matter at this point, Selena. Lives are at stake, and perhaps even the entire political structure of the world." The old man answered quietly.

"Lives may be at stake, yes." She paused for a moment before she turned to face him, staring into his large purple eyes. "But when are they ever not?"

The old man folded his hands on his chest and leaned back in his chair. "You know what I meant."

Selena laughed bitterly. "You're asking for what is coming, Dallas. You're looking a disaster straight in the face and you're inviting it in. You of all people should understand what a horrible mistake all of this is."

"Sometimes, disaster can bring us to the most wonderful, yet unexpected, places." He said.

Selena walked over the window and stood looking down at all the people bustling around on the streets below her. "They're a bomb waiting to go off. The final act of the play. They're…the downfall of mankind."

Dallas leaned forward and set his hands palm down on the table. "That may be true, yet it's never over until the credits roll, and sometime's it doesn't even end there."

Selena looked at him over her shoulder and frowned. "Dallas, the credits are already rolling, they are just so faint that you cannot see them."

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"Sit, please sit." Headmistress McGonagall motioned to the chairs in front of her desk.

"Headmistress, have we done something wrong?" Hermione asked nervously.

"No, no of course not." The headmistress took a deep breath. "When I invited you all back for you eighth year, I never in my wildest dreams imagined something of this severity happening."

"So we have done something wrong." Ron interrupted. Draco frowned at the back of his head.

"No." McGonagall repeated. "You six have been called upon to go to Antarctica, for business I cannot explain to you."

Blaise laughed bitterly. "You can't send us off to some freezing continent without giving us any information. That's freaking crazy!"

McGonagall swallowed hard and continued. "What I can explain to you is this: wizards are not the only non-muggle people in the world. There are other groups that hide their lives away secretly, groups that we have not mixed with for thousands of years. The history was so horrible between us that we burned all the evidence of our encounters. We thought that if we did so they would cease to exist, and for a while, they did. There was one group of people, the Antarctican's, that were the overseers of these all people. They kept the groups separate, helped us keep our secrets safe, in a way they taught us everything we know today. Now they have called on you to aide them and for that very reason I cannot refuse."

McGonagall shook her head sadly. "I do not know what they want with you or if you shall return. I regret to do this deeply but I must send you, for if what they have described to me is as horrid as it sounds you will play a key role in saving us."

"I don't understand." Hermione looked at McGonagall with a look of confusion that she had never seen on the girl's face before.

"I'm sorry, but you must go now. There is only some much time for you to get there."

There were several cracks and then they were gone.

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Chiron studied the seven young adults that sat before him. He could no longer consider them children after all they had been through, though in a way he wished for their own sake's they still could be.

"Heroes," He began. "you have been issued a quest."

Their looks of despair made his heart break for them even further. They bowed their heads silently, fiddling with whatever they could get their hands on to keep them from looking around the room and seeing their own emotions reflected back at them.

"Long before the time of gods or humans there was a group called the Antarticans. They are unlike anything one can imagine. Neither human nor god, they come from something called the in-between."

"What's the in-between, Chiron?" Annabeth asked with curiosity.

"A dark place in the spiritual world, it's like the crossover between heaven and hell. It's not a place of light or dark, but of every shade that lies within the spectrum. Dark, evil things emerge from the in-between along with light, wonderful things. It's because of this spectrum that the Antarticans have the power that they do. But to fully understand this you'll have to meet them yourselves."

"Where are they?" Percy asked quietly.

"Antarctica. They flourish there not only because of the cold, but because of the way the sunlight is received. Completely light for six months and completely dark for the other six, it is the perfect balance for them."

"So you're going to send us to Antarctica…." Jason trailed off uneasily.

"Unfortunately, I have no other choice." Chiron said softly. "If I did I would never wish this upon you. The Antarticans are not pure, behind everything they do lies both light and dark. Their intentions are never truly good and their character is questionable, but they also hold they key to knowledge and wisdom that Athena herself could never dream of obtaining."

They looked up at him slowly and fearfully, with wide, unsure eyes.

"The world you are about to enter shall open those eyes of yours more than any war ever could."


	2. Atlan's Blessing

**Author's Note: Thanks so much to everyone reading this, it really means a lot!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own HP or PJO.**

Selena walked quickly down the hallway, her bright green eyes sparkling with fury. She could hear the sound of footsteps behind her and she closed her eyes, wishing more than anything they could just disappear for a little while. Instead, she braced herself and swung on her heels to face her pursuer.

"Selena," Tyler breathed as he neared her. "is something wrong?"

She shook her head from side to side. "No, no of course not. Why would anything be wrong?"

Tyler stepped closer and ran his hands up and down Selena's arms. "You can tell me anything, remember?"

Selena bit her lip and looked at her feet. "Not this though. Not this."

Tyler bent his head down so he was looking her in the eye. "Why not?"

"Tyler, you know why." Selena snapped. "I can't share official business, I am an advisor to our leader and you are a politician. You live your life to bring his career to ruin."

Tyler sighed and looked out the glass windows that shielded the walkway from the cold. "You know we cannot choose the path that has been laid out for us. We can only walk it with the best intentions."

Selena slowly backed away from his grasp. "Sometimes even the ones with the best intentions make the most mistakes." She shook her head slowly. "I must go."

Then she was gone with Tyler staring longingly after her fading form. He knew better than to go after her when she was upset like this.

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For several days the land bustled with the talk of guest, something that the land had not seen for thousands of years. Selena watched from the window of the chancellors office as the people began to prepare for the welcoming feast. Every so often she would glance back at the chancellor and study him carefully. He sat at his large desk looking down upon his paperwork with an ungrateful scowl plastered across his face. He folded his hands in front of him and bent his head in defeat.

"Something wrong, Dallas?" She asked quietly. Selena was the only one in the entire land who called him Dallas for she was the only one close enough to him to do so.

"Do you remember the stories that you were told when you were young?" Dallas looked up at her carefully.

She blinked slowly a few times as she tried to remember. "Not really, last few hundred years have been a blur, I barely remember being a child."

Dallas stood up and walked over the whiteboard that hung on the wall of his office. "There was one story," He began as he picked up a marker. "that foreshadowed what we are dealing with today. It said that the heroes would bear the blessing and the mark of the oldest god, Atlan, but it was believed that Atlan would not come to Earth for hundreds of years. Those years have passed and Atlan's presence will be on earth until the end of the year. That means that the heroes who have been called to us have been blessed."

"So you are saying they are the ones we have been waiting for?" Selena asked skeptically.

"Exactly. We waited and they came to us, just like the old texts foretold." Dallas told her.

Selena sighed but sat up straighter in her chair. She stared at the ring on her finger. "What if the old texts are wrong? What if they are not the ones we have been waiting for?"

"Life is not all about the negative, Selena. Sometimes we must trust that the gods know what they are doing with us."

"Sometimes, I do not believe that the gods know what they are doing with us."

Dallas put the marker down and turned to observe Selena. "Something is bothering you, yes?"

Selena twisted the ring on her finger and shook her head no.

"Dear child, have we not known one another for hundreds of years? Something is clearly bothering you, I can see it written on your face clear as day."

Selena looked up into Dallas' eyes. "Have you ever regretted a decision? Have you ever wished that you could take something back…something…awful?" She looked down as she finished the question.

"This is about your betrothal to Jacque is it not?"

Selena nodded slowly. Dallas sat down slowly next to her and placed a hand on her back.

"You are torn because deep down, you know that some of you is always going to belong to Alex, yes?"

Selena nodded again.

"There is something one must understand about marriages in our society before one can ever have a truly happy marriage. Our marriages are based on our occupations because, well, could you imagine being married to someone who's job was to spend their entire lives trying to destroy your own?"

Selena shook her head.

"Selena, you are the most promising female advisor that we have. You posses many extraordinary talents and there is no doubt in my mind that for as long as you live you will only make the best decisions. You're like a daughter to me, Selena." He took her hand and smiled at her, the crinkling around his eyes giving away his old age. "I only want the best for you and I know that Jacque is the only man who can keep up with your spirit, treat you the way to deserve, and keep you down to earth at the same time. I believe in him, you should too."

Selena smiled at him and kissed his cheek, wiping away a few stray tears. "I do Dallas, I really do."

"That's my girl. Your parents would be so proud." He squeezed her hand. She blushed and looked away.

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Selena walked down the narrow, barely lit path on her way home from the capital. The house that she shared with her fiancé, Jacque, was about another mile up the road. There was a rustling in the bushes, Selena stopped and looked around, trying to assure herself it was only an animal and not someone preparing to jump her. She took a few calming breathes and continued walking only to stop again when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Alex, I know it's you." She said coolly.

"Miss me?" A voice breathed in her ear.

She shivered and turned to face him. "Not really." She shrugged nonchalantly.

Alex leaned down so their foreheads were pressed together. "I know you did." He breathed.

She tried to collect her thoughts and focus on what she wanted to say. How she wanted to end this. "Alex…"

But instead of listening Alex began kissing her, wrapping his hands around her wrists and backing her into a nearby tree.

"Alex," She tried again when they came up for air, but he was in no mood for listening and he cut her off once more.

She finally managed to squirm her way out of his grip and push him lightly off of her. "Alex, please, stop."

He looked at her with confusion but didn't say anything.

"I'm so sorry, but this has to stop. I'm engaged and you're going to be getting engaged and continuing on like this…it's…it's just not fair to any of us."

Alex stared at her for a few minutes before responding. "If that's what you want. We could make it work though, you know. You don't have to marry Jacque, you'll never be happy with him. I can make you happy, Selena." He placed his hand on her cheek. "Please, just let me try."

Selena looked up at him pleadingly. "We both know why it would never work. There are rules, Alex. Rules that we'll pay for if we don't follow. Rules that I cannot risk breaking."

He sighed and leaned down to hung her once more. "I would fight for you, but it seems like your mind is made up."

"It is." She pulled back and placed a light kiss on his lips. "I'm sorry."

She continued off down the path, turning around once she had gone quite a distance to see Alex standing right where she'd left him. He raised a hand and held it there, she did the same before dropping it and moving on.

**I know you may be wondering why there hasn't been more PJO or HP characters so far but I am trying to develop the society and the back story before they show up. I promise that in the next chapter or so they will show up and we will get this thing rolling!**


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